Not a child who needs to sleep with a guardian, but maybe it's because her body is only eight years old?
Or is it just the nature of being someone's child?
Lying in her father's arms, she felt an odd sense of calmness. Perhaps it was the distinct, cold scent that emanated only from Lark.
"This place is safe."
She felt like a little bird that had finally found the safest nest in the world, comfortably enveloping herself in the blanket.
Still, her habit of pondering about the future before sleeping didn’t fade away, leading her to naturally start contemplating Lark's endless recursion.
"Is there a way to end this infinite recursion?"
Lark must have tirelessly researched and strived to end these recurrences.
Yet, he hadn’t found a solution.
However, this life had introduced a new variable: Navia.
"The last thing mom said in the video, it didn’t seem like she was referring to the end of the video."
Then, the secret must be hidden within Black Moon.
"Or maybe it involves both Black Moon and White Moon."
So, from tomorrow, their task was simple.
"Find out about Nyx."
Nyx was not a universally known deity among the people, to the extent that she barely had a single temple dedicated to her.
"If you ask someone if they know about the goddess Nyx," more than 9 out of 10 would answer that they don't.
Lark and Navia, due to a particular situation, were more knowledgeable in theology than the average theologian.
That's why they immediately recognized the name Nyx as the daughter of Chaos.
"It's peculiar that a god, who was never involved in human affairs, readily agreed to a divine contract..."
"Little one."
Startled.
Navia instinctively held her breath and pretended to be asleep.
But it didn't fool Lark.
"You should stop thinking and sleep. Otherwise, you won't grow taller."
Until now, sleeping was something to be criticized for. But to be scolded for not sleeping?
Navia, with her eyes tightly shut, eventually giggled.
Lark also chuckled, as if it was ridiculous.
"Really, such a disobedient little one."
"I take after you, dad."
Then Lark stretched Navia's cheek.
"Huh. It's your mom who's disobedient. Didn't you hear she ran away from home since she was seventeen? And the initial reason she came here was to steal."
This was a story I'd never heard before.
"Steal?"
"Yes. She thought Eseled was easy to rob. That's how she ended up being caught by me."
I wondered how their fateful encounter happened, and it turned out to be a romance with a thief.
"That was an amazing meeting."
Well, it was quite a special and beautiful encounter.
Navia decided to think positively.
But Lark snorted at her response.
"Amazing? It's the first time someone came to rob my house."
"So you fell in love?"
Lark narrowed his eyes and stretched Navia's cheek again.
"Ahayo..."
"I just pinched lightly, and you're being so dramatic, my little one. Go to sleep."
"Yes."
Navia giggled and closed her eyes again.
It seemed like a good night to dream.
A dream where I've grown much taller than Lark, smiling and saying, "If I'm a kid, then dad is a tiny tot."
* * *
"Damn it! Damn it all!"
Theorban was completely distraught over the narcotic herb farm he had lost overnight.
A week ago, including his wife, the entire Vassal family unanimously transferred their rights to Eseled.
In the process, Theorban was completely excluded. His wife exercised her rights as a direct descendant of the Alvin family.
Since that day, his wife had disappeared, claiming she was going to her brother's house.
He first started searching for his wife.
"It seems that the lady, um, might have had an affair..."
His wife had eloped with a young servant. The news spread rapidly through the social circles before he could hide it.
While it wasn't uncommon for nobles to have mistresses, eloping like this was unheard of.
There was no greater disgrace than this.
Already notorious for his lack of dignity, Theorban's family's reputation plummeted even further due to this incident.
If he couldn't rectify this situation, it would be difficult to re-enter high society.
'I will definitely catch them and make them pay!'
But while he could understand his wife's infidelity, he couldn't comprehend why she agreed to the transfer of the narcotic herb farm.
"What could possibly be the connection between the Anesthesia Grass and my wife's elopement?" Theorban, fuming with anger, was cautiously approached by his butler.
"Master, we have received a message that the Pedro family, followed by the Patrick family, cannot attend today's meeting either……."
Upon hearing his butler's report, Theorban angrily stroked his beard.
"Ungrateful wretches!"
Theorban had deceived Lark, who became the family head at the age of eight, by persuading his retainers.
In exchange for full ownership of the Anesthesia Grass farm, he distributed shares of another business to the vassal families.
He was the one who had enabled the draining of Eseled's fortunes!
'And what? To think of adopting that low-born girl as his foster daughter?'
Theorban slammed his desk repeatedly and cursed. Yet, his anger was far from subsiding.
Knock, knock.
A servant entered and announced, "Master, Baron Miley has arrived."
Among the Vassal families, only the Baron Miley, known for his elegance, attended the emergency meeting hosted by Theorban today.
This was the first attendance since the summoning order was issued for a week, following the news that the owner of the Anesthesia Grass farm had changed.
Grinding his teeth, Theorban headed to the first-floor meeting room where Baron Miley was alone.
As soon as he opened the door to the meeting room, Theorban burst into anger at the sight of the man, sweating profusely on this cold day.
"Baron Miley! What is the meaning of this?"
"Th-there were circumstances. I came here risking my life because of my loyalty to Count!"
Baron Miley, wiping his face continuously with a handkerchief and looking anxious, pulled out a crumpled letter from his pocket.
"Look at this. It's a threatening letter that came through the crack of my door."
With a skeptical expression, Theorban unfolded and read the letter handed to him.
The letter was anonymous, and to prevent handwriting analysis, it was made by cutting out pieces of newspaper.
"Out of the blue, he threatened to disclose the tax evasion of the last five years if I didn't transfer the Anesthesia Grass farm to Eseled. He even sent some evidence along with it!"
The reason Baron Miley confessed to tax evasion was because he and Count Alvin were inextricably linked in this fate of tax fraud.
"You know how sensitive the Royal Family has been about tax issues lately, in preparation for the war? It's better to hand over the Anesthesia Grass farm."
"How could you have managed things so poorly at such a critical time! Are you out of your mind?"
Miley felt unjustly accused.
"Do you know how much I've focused on security? That's why the Royal Family didn't know about the existence of the original ledger until now!"
"But why did we receive such a letter?"
"How should I know? And I'm not the only one who's been threatened. Everyone agreed to transfer the farm because of the letter!"
Theorban felt dizzy with the realization.
'Who would do such a thing? Suleiman? Margaret? But those old folks, what kind of connections could they have?'
Lark, having no external connections, was not even worth considering.
"Could it be Agnes?"
There was no doubt in his mind that this nonsense had been orchestrated to prevent his daughter, Masha, from becoming Eseled's successor.
"That damned wench is tripping me up again!"
His anger quickly shifted towards Navia.
'If only I had secured the successor's position, everything would have proceeded smoothly!'
Just then, there was a commotion outside.
Bang!
"Daddy!"
The door to the meeting room burst open without permission, and his daughter, Masha, stormed in.
"When will you get me the Ansier dress? I absolutely must wear it for the railway inauguration!"
"My goodness, Miss! Please, come out!"
"Let go, nanny!"
Unable to bear his daughter's tantrum, Theorban slapped her.
Smack!
"A girl of unknown parentage!"
He failed to see the resemblance between himself and Masha. His mind was occupied only with his daughter's misdeeds and his wife's infidelity.
"Waaah-!"
Masha burst into tears immediately after being slapped.
"How dare you enter the conference room without permission, lock her in her room until I say otherwise!"
"Father has gone mad! Completely mad! Waaah!"
All the while being dragged away, the daughter cried and screamed, accusing her father of madness and questioning how he could hit her.
"That detestable creature!"
Theorban's face turned beet red with rage, his anger reaching the tips of his hair.
"Just to leave that thing alone...!"
He was shaking all over with rage and, in the moment he yelled out, his vision suddenly dimmed.
"Oh no... Count!"
Thud!
Theorban collapsed uncontrollably, overwhelmed by his rage.
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